Orpheus, the bard of Apollo, was able to tame the spirits of wild beasts and to move large stones with his songs. As an Argonaut on the quest for the Golden Fleece, he was a hero who bore no arms. His weapon was the lyre and the sound of his voice. He was even able to overcome the Sirens’ song with his music.

The omens for his wedding day, however, proved unlucky– for his bride, Eurydice, was bitten by a serpent and died. Descending to the Underworld in order to retrieve his wife, Orpheus begs Pluto and Proserpina for her return. He reminds Pluto that he too had been conquered by Love.

Disheartened and depressed by this double loss of Eurydice, Orpheus shuns the company of women. The Maenads, the maddened women who worship Bacchus, are angered at being so scorned. They attack Orpheus and their clamor and ululations tear him apart, limb from limb. Orpheus descends again to the Underworld, this time as a shade, where he is finally reunited with Eurydice.

Minerva (Athena) is the goddess of wisdom and war. She is also the household deity of spinning and weaving. As we know from the TED video about Domitia, weaving is a prized skill in the ancient world. It is a skill which every Roman maiden and wife once learned and practiced in the domus. We know that because it is commemorated on the tombstones of many Roman women.

Ovid tells a tale of Minerva’s anger when a mortal, Arachne, boasts that her skill is greater than that of Minerva. This is an example of an aetiological myth, one that explains the cause (aitia) of a natural phenomenon, the skill of the spider.

Epistle of Othea, manuscript, 1364

Indeed, Arachne was a fine weaver. Ovid wrote that Arachne had attained such skill in the arts of weaving, that the nymphs themselves would leave their groves and fountains just to gaze upon her work. Spectators said that Minerva herself must have taught Arachne. But this, Arachne denied. “Let Minerva try her skill with mine” she said; “If beaten, I will pay the penalty.”

Francesco del Cossa, oil painting, 1460

Minerva assumed the character of an old woman, and in a friendly tone, she tried to warn the foolish girl against such a display of false pride (hubris). The old woman said, “I have had much experience and I hope you will not despise my counsel. Challenge your fellow mortals as you will, but do not compete with a goddess.”

Regardless, Arachne would not acknowledge Minerva as a source of her powers and she challenged the goddess to a weaving contest. Then, Minerva threw off her disguise and ordered the looms to be set up. The competition began. Minerva wove into her tapestries the stories about proud mortals who were punished because of their hubris. Impudent Arachne wove tales about the scandalous behavior of the male gods.

Antonio Tempesta, Etching, 1606

In anger at Arachne’s weaving, Minerva beat Arachne with a shuttle (weaving tool) to make her feel guilt and shame. Arachne could not endure it and went to hang herself on her thread. Arachne became smaller and smaller and turned into a spider, eternally weaving.

Try your best to translate the following state mottoes, all of which are written in Latin. For words that you don’t know, I provide the vocabulary. Other words we have had before and you can look up in Ecce if you don’t remember.

Arkansas: regnat populus – _____________________

regnare – to rule (reign, regent, regal, etc)

what is the subject?

Virginia: sic semper tyrannis – _______________________

sic – thus

tyrannus, tyranni – tyrant

HINT: Tyrannis is dative plural. How is the dative case translated? Look in the Ecce glossary if you cannot remember!

Adjectives are often used as Nouns (substantively), the masculine usually to denote men or people in general of that kind, the feminine women, and the neuter things

Thus, boni sunt rari = good men are rare. (notice – we don’t need the word for men!) Or: Bonae sunt rarae = good women are rare. SO: if you see an adjective and you don’t see a noun that it modifies….it’s probably substantive.

The state that holds a special place in my heart…

Maine: Dirigo – ____________________

dirigere– to direct

Credit to Gabe, because I basically just took his activity and made it look pretty, with a few additions like my favorite state of Maine. 🙂

The Getty Villa is offering a week-long summer Latin academy for teens–“This year’s Summer Latin Academy theme, “Tempus Fugit (Time Flies),” will concentrate on the passage of time and how it was marked in antiquity. The five-day week will be treated like the Roman calendar, and important dates and holidays will receive close attention as we study the customs and traditions of the ancient Romans”

The summer academy is FREE!! Applications are due June. 1st. Click here to learn about the program.